Living Room

We are VERY slowly getting our house together. We are almost finished with the living room and we will then tackle the dining room. We pretty much know what we want to do in each room, it's just a matter of time and money to make it happen.

BEFORE


BEFORE



CHANGES MADE:
Wall color: hot chocolate... similar to what it was, but it needed repainting so we decided to change it slightly
new pillows for couch (Pier One) and "matching" rug (Kohl's)
curtains (Bed, Bath and Beyond)
switched out ugly fan for a plain white one we already had
new brushed silver wall plates

I have the wall decor, just don't have it up yet... we still need to add more seating, roman shades for the back doors, and a new coffee/end tables

But, here is the living room so far...

AFTER


AFTER


AFTER

Too busy!

The last couple of weeks have been way too busy for us! I had to work long hours last week covering for someone who was out on vacation and then our manager got sick and was admitted to the hospital so I had to cover some hours for her too. After all that I basically slept all of Saturday away... I didn't even want to go look at furniture! *gasp*

Kyle and I are both getting ready to start a program at church called Upward. It's a Christian based sports program and our church participates in the football and cheerleading part. I am coaching a 2nd-3rd grade cheerleading team with my sister. hehe. I'm a little nervous about this since I have never coached before, actually I've never had anything to do with cheerleading at all. We have a coaches manual with all the positions, jumps, cheers, etc and a DVD to watch. Practices start next week so hopefully I will have time this week to sit down and study everything. We have ten precious girls on our squad and since it's very low competition it is mostly just for fun. Thank goodness. Kyle is also helping coach a 4th-6th grade football team. I hear they drafted the fasted kid in the league so him and the other coach are super excited. They have already been working on plays and studying the rule book and such so I have a feeling their team is going to be a lot competitive, haha. So that will keep us busy a couple nights a week and every Saturday morning through mid-November!

Well I must get off the computer now and finish getting things ready for our Ladies Luau tonight! The Heart-to-Heart team (I think I blogged about that before...) that I'm a part of is sponsoring this event to get to know our new lady members at church and kick-off the new year by advertising all the upcoming events! My friend and I are responsible for the games and door prizes! I going to try to remember to take pics... we will have women of all ages playing hula hoop games and such :)

Furniture Shopping

Saturday Kyle and I decided to go furniture shopping for the new house! Actually, we decided in advance that we would not buy anything that day, just look! I am kinda bad about buying things in a hurry and then finding something I like better the next day, yeah...

So anyway, it was a very productive day... we did 4 stores in about 3 hours and there were tons of people since it was tax-free weekend. We found a master bedroom suite we love (cherry, sleigh bed style) and coffee/end tables we love too. We have about three more stores we want to go to and then we will make a decision. We were thankful we had some really great sales people too... not the pushy, annoying kind that hover over you while you're trying to look. I just get ticked at them and end up walking out or saying something not so nice to them. We actually felt like they let us walk around and talk about things and we found them if we had questions. I like it that way.

I have really enjoyed fixing up our new house so far and making it ours! It is such a great feeling :)

For my husband

Everyone needs a little encouragement sometimes, this post is in honor of my wonderful husband Kyle. Let me just share a few reasons with you why I love this man so much!

Kyle approached and pursued me. - So many women these days run after men they are interested in, I didn't have to do that. Kyle came up to me the first time we met and called me to ask me out. I love that!

Kyle gave up sleep on Sunday mornings - He learned that if he wanted to see me on Sundays, he had to be at church with me because that's where I was every Sunday. He stepped out of his comfort zone to be with me and in the end fell in love with not just me, but also with our Lord and Savior. Now Kyle is an active and dedicated member at Fairview Baptist Church. Praise God! (btw, this was not forced on him, but highly encouraged)

Kyle can fix my computer - Seriously...I always depended on my Dad to handle that problem, now my hubby can be my hero and repair my computer when I break it ;) To me, that is a big deal.

Kyle is logical - He is my voice of reason when I get a little carried away or overwhelmed.

Kyle is patient - ...with everything, I'm the complete opposite.

Kyle works out for me - He always come home from the gym and makes me feel his muscles. He gets buff for ME! Love it!

Kyle is family oriented - That was big for me when I first met him, our very first date he was already talking about his family. He loves his family and my family, and I know he is going to make a great Dad someday.

Kyle teaches me about sports - I wasn't into sports a whole lot before we met but Kyle is IN to sports. Any sport, any day, anywhere, any player, he is into it. He teaches me a LOT which I find very cool. I'm sure I get annoying with all my questions but he always answers them...over and over.

Kyle lets me have the remote sometimes - He so willingly gives it up and I don't even have to ask. Then he doesn't leave the room, he watches my shows with me. How awesome is that?!?!

Kyle is trustworthy - Kyle can keep a secret way better than I can :) And I know he doesn't tell anything I don't want him to, men are much better at that than women, that's for sure.

Kyle supports me - A job decision, a house decision, a church decision, anything... Kyle listens to me, has great advice and stands behind me when I make a decision

Kyle loves food - and so do I. He is not a picky eater, thank goodness! I don't think I could live with a picky eater... the foods he doesn't like, I don't like either, hehe.

Kyle takes care of my car - Kyle keeps track of all my car stuff and washes it for me... and he does a good job... it takes him at least 2 hours to wash my car, clean the tires, check the oil, etc. I greatly appreciate that.

Kyle helps me with house cleaning - Kyle often does the dishes and vacuuming is his thing! He doesn't expect me to do it all!

Kyle goes shopping with me - even when he doesn't want to, and that includes grocery shopping too!

There are tons more reason why I love Kyle, this is just a very short list. The petty arguments that come from two imperfect people trying to live together will never outweigh the love we have for each other. I am so blessed to have him in my life and I am proud to call him my husband!

I LOVE YOU KYLE!!

Deeper Still

I had the awesome privilege of going to a Deeper Still women's conference this weekend with my mom, sister and aunt. I love me some christian women's conferences, they are truly the highlights of my year. I can't even describe the encouragement, joy and refreshing that comes from these events. There were 11,000 women packed into the Greensboro collesium for two days and we praised God like nobody's business. Beth Moore has been my one of my favorite Bible teachers for years now and joining her were Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer... not to mention Travis Cottrell's praise team. You can't go wrong with those three ladies. Three different personalities and three different teaching styles make for one fun and exciting time. It does the heart good to see such strength in these ladies and they are on fire for God, they bring it everytime. It was so cool to see 11,000 other Christian women there too, there are many times I feel like I'm alone in where I stand, but I am so not the only one. I could hardly stay in my seat when Kay Arthur was talking about the downward spiral this country is in and how God's hand of judgement is on us because our cup of iniquties is overflowing. I so wanted to jump out of my seat and embarass myself my yelling "preach it sister"....but I didn't, don't worry. I laughed my head off at Priscilla's "mommy" stories and of course I enjoyed every minute Beth Moore had the stage. Great weekend!!

Sunday was also another fun day when Kyle's parents, Chad, Courtney and my family came for a visit. We had a cookout and had a really great lunch and family time. Donna had tons of decorating ideas for the new place also, which I loved!!

The living room is FINALLY painted, after a week of working on it in bits and pieces! One room down...12 to go, hehe. Now I just have to get my curtains, furniture and decorations and we're good.

I will leave you all with this bit of encouragement I got from the weekend:

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" - Ephesians 3:20-21

God can do ANYTHING, believe Him for it.

Us with Priscilla Shirer


Priscilla, Kay and Beth picking on each other


Priscilla and Beth trying to rap on stage...too cute